Saturday, November 12, 2016

You by Caroline Kepnes

When a beautiful, aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her credit card.

There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City. She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she’ll be at a bar in Brooklyn tonight—the perfect place for a “chance” meeting.

As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way—even if it means murder.

“If you don’t start with crazy, crazy love, the kind of love that Van Morrison sings about, then you don’t have a shot to go the distance. ”

I want you to explain to me how did I fall for a stalker with killing tendencies? Nuts, right? Well, I'm blaming Caroline Kepnes and her writing.

I'm willing to bet people can find Joe likable in a Dexter kind of way except when Joe loses it, not only bad people get harmed.

In case you haven't guessed, You is about Joes Goldberg, a psycho in his own way. Joe is looking for the perfect woman to love. When Beck enters the bookstore where Joe works, he knows she is the one. Just like that, Joe decides he's in love and she needs to fall in love with him.

Joe is very smart. He never went to college but he's savvy with B&E, gadgets, and technology. He can use social media to maintain tabs on Beck and her friends. Stealing Beck's phone keeps him in the loop at all times. Joe is so obsessed with her that he would do whatever is necessary to become her man.

Really great story! I was rooting for Joe to get the girl despite not liking Beck. She was so wishy-washy that she was mostly annoying to me. She was full of deceit and lies. You couldn't trust anything she said. I thought Joe gave her the benefit of the doubt too many times. Her friends were not any better. Her ex-lover treated her like trash but she had her own obsession with him. Her friend Peach was absolutely awful. I hated her from the moment she was nasty to Joe.